It's called a wavemaker, and it's a honkin' 300 feet long and 12 feet wide. With support from the National Science Foundation, this huge new tool, the largest of its type in the United States, is helping scientists perform large scale studies on the impact of both hurricane and tsunami waves. During one of its first tests the waves knocked over a six foot concrete wall. The wavemaker is being used to better understand the effects of waves on steel, wood and brick. Civil engineer Dan Cox, director of the Hinsdale Wave Research Lab at Oregon State, says the facility could help communities prepare for planning and evacuations; for instance, determining when "vertical evacuations" to high rise buildings might be the best strategy. For more Science Nation: Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=VideosatNSF or Youtube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL833118C47C3E8362 or http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/index.jsp .